Deja Vu
by CountryGirl914
Summary: After being separated from the Doctor, Rose has finally found him again. Or has she?  TenRose
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Doomsday? What Doomsday? This goes up to Fear Her, then goes AU. Also, I had the idea for this long before season three (I actually posted this to my LJ months ago and forgot to post it here as well), so any similarities with _Human Nature_ are just creepy coincidences.

**Feedback:** Is love. Please review!

* * *

Rose walked along the river, scanning the faces of the people she passed. They'd stopped in 43rd century London because the TARDIS could use a few new parts, the Doctor had said, and he knew a place here where he could get them. He'd known that she'd rather go shopping than searching for spanners and the like, and had told her to enjoy the day before disappearing into the crowded street. 

That had been a month ago.

She'd been slightly worried when she'd returned to the TARDIS, arms full of packages, to find the ship empty. Concern had turned to panic when she fell asleep on the jump seat and awoke the next day to find him still not there. And by the end of the day, having scoured the city and finding no trace of him, desperate, she'd contacted the police.

They'd been nothing but helpful, instantly starting an investigation. But as the days stretched by, she noticed more and more the strain on their faces, the sentences they'd start and then not finish. Something was wrong, horribly wrong, and finally, frustrated with the lack of progress, Rose had confronted the detective assigned to the case, demanding the truth.

It wasn't what she'd been expecting.

For a little over a year, people had been disappearing from London. Some were never seen again, and those that were found…weren't the same. They came back insisting they were different people, not recognizing parents, children, spouses, friends. Scientists, psychotherapists, behavioralists—all of them and more had been called into service, but none of the victims had yet to regain their memories. A few had even gone insane in the process. And Rose knew what the sympathetic expression on the detective's face meant.

He thought the Doctor had been the latest victim.

Well, the police could believe that, but Rose wasn't going to give up hope. Even when two weeks had gone by, and the police had reluctantly informed her that they needed to focus their main attention on more current cases, she'd stubbornly insisted on continuing to search, traversing the city every day and peering at face after face after face, hoping against hope for a miracle.

Which brought her back to the river.

The wind blew her hair into her face and she pushed the strands aside, eyes flitting from face to face. There was a man five or so meters away from her, walking slowly towards her, and she'd been doing this for so long that her gaze glanced over him before she froze and turned back.

He was wearing jeans, a bright blue t-shirt, and a leather jacket, not the pinstriped suit and overcoat she'd been looking for, but that face…

There was no mistaking that face.

She quickly covered the distance between them and launched herself at him, engulfing him in a hug. She pressed her face into the leather, taking in the smell of him and the comforting double thump of his hearts. "Oh, God, Doctor," she said. "Thank God. I was beginning to think that I was never going to find you!"

There was silence, and then strong hands gently pulling her away. She looked up at him, ready to speak again—

Her words died on her lips as her blood ran cold.

There wasn't an ounce of recognition on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I've never seen you before in my life. You must have me confused with someone else." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Jacob Bennett. And you are?"

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

_Her words died on her lips as her blood ran cold._

_There wasn't an ounce of recognition on his face._

"_I'm sorry," he said, "but I've never seen you before in my life. You must have me confused with someone else." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Jacob Bennett. And you are?"_

* * *

Rose felt like she was going to throw up. "It's Rose," she said, shakily. "Rose Tyler. I'm Rose Tyler, and you're the Doctor."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rose Tyler, but like I told you, I'm not the man you're looking for. I don't know you. I'm not a doctor either, although that'd be nice." He looked off to the side in contemplation.

"No," Rose whispered, unable to hold onto the thoughts spinning around in her head. "No, no, no…this can't be happening…"

She had his attention again, and Jacob—no, no matter what he said, she couldn't think of him that way—_the Doctor_ looked at her with wide eyes. "Oh, are you going to cry now? Please don't cry. I'm rubbish with crying women, all the tears and the sobbing…"

If the situation wasn't so serious, she'd laugh at the panic and distress on his face. "I'm not going to cry," she said, furiously blinking away the moisture in her eyes. "There's no time for crying. I've got to figure out how to get you to remember who you are."

He was getting exasperated now, letting out a sigh that ruffled his fringe, sending his hair into even further disarray. "As I said, I've never seen you before in my life, so I'm having a hard time understanding how you're going to convince me that I'm someone I'm not. I think it's time I was on my way…" Something over her shoulder caught his attention, and his eyes narrowed. "Those men don't seem pleased to see us talking."

Rose turned. Three large, imposing men were standing across the street and glowering at them, dark expressions on their faces. The tallest one looked so familiar, and Rose wracked her brain, trying to place him. It came to her in a flash of memory: the day the Doctor disappeared, right after he'd warned her to not buy out all of London and turned to leave—there he'd been. Watching them, and following the Doctor as he walked away.

These men had something to do with the Doctor's disappearance. And now they were quickly advancing on them.

There was no time for Rose to think about the irony of the situation, no time to let the sensation of deja-vu sweep over her. There was only time to grab the Doctor's hand, look him in the eye, and utter one word.

"_Run_."

And they did.

They raced through the streets, weaving through thick crowds, the three men hot on their heels. "Where are we going?" the Doctor shouted, gasping for breath as they ran.

"The TARDIS!" she said over her shoulder.

"The what?!"

Rose didn't answer as they flew over the sidewalk, her hand in his urging him on. There was no time—they had to get to the TARDIS. They'd only been a few blocks from where it was parked, it should be right…

There. She nearly cried in relief as the ship came into view, people walking past it as if nothing was there.

The man beside her, however, wasn't so pleased. "A blue box?! That's your plan?!" he cried.

Oh, like he ever had a plan. "Just trust me!" she panted, grabbing the TARDIS key and yanking the chain it was on over her head. They skidded to a stop in front of the box a moment later, Rose instantly jamming the key into the lock. She shoved the Doctor in ahead of her and slammed the door closed, shutting her eyes and leaning back against it as she tried to catch her breath. They were safe.

"Bloody hell!"

She opened her eyes to see him turning in circles, looking around the console room in wonder. "This…this is impossible. Beautiful—amazing, even—but not possible. Is this some new government invention? I've never—"

A loud, booming thud from outside startled them both. The men chasing them had reached the TARDIS. The Doctor looked at her fearfully. "What do we do if they get in?"

Something he'd told her long ago floated to the forefront of her mind"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door," she quoted. "We'll be fine. And this is the TARDIS—time and relative dimensions in space. It's not government technology—it's Time Lord technology. Your technology."

His face fell. "Oh, please don't tell me you're back on that! I'm not the Doctor, or whatever you called him—"

"You're not human," Rose challenged. "You have two hearts."

"So? London hasn't been completely human in over two hundred years. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this city with a binary vascular system." Rose stopped, startled. She'd thought he'd have no way out of that one. He looked at her with sympathy. "Look, I'm sorry that I seem to be your friend's doppelganger, but there's nothing I can do about that."

"Doppelganger?" Rose asked, frowning at the unfamiliar word.

"A double, a look-alike, a twin. Some even believe that everyone has a person somewhere in the world who looks exactly like him or her. I've never really believed it, but maybe it's true, if you're mistaking me for someone else."

"I'm not mistaking you for someone else!" Rose exclaimed. "You're the Doctor! We came here to visit a month ago, and you disappeared. I've been looking for you ever since. This has happened before, the police told me. Someone made you forget who you are…"

The wary expression being directed her way made her want to scream and hit something in frustration. This wasn't getting her anywhere—it was time to try a different tact. "Fine," she sighed, running a hand through her hair as she took a deep breath to steady herself. "You say you're not the Doctor. Then tell me who you _are_."

Relief washed over his face, as if he felt like they were finally getting somewhere. "Like I said before, my name is Jacob Bennett. I just moved here from Cardiff two weeks ago. Taught science there. Born and raised in Hull." He crossed his arms. "What else do you want to know?"

There had to be a flaw in his story _somewhere_. "Tell me about your parents."

He rolled his eyes but continued. "Henry and Charlotte Bennett. Mum lived here all her life; Dad came to this planet when he was five. They met, fell in love, had me. They died in a car accident two years after I finished university."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It was a long time ago. It doesn't hurt as much anymore." There was silence for a moment, then—"Anything else?"

Rose couldn't shake the vague, discomfiting feeling that he was just reciting a story, not relating experiences he'd actually gone through. "What about your grandparents?"

One hand went up to rub the back of his neck, and her heart ached at the familiar motion. "Don't know anything about them, really. They all died before I was born."

She could only look at him. "You don't know anything? Your parents never told you stories about them?"

He shrugged again. "Not that I can remember. They weren't that big on family history, and I guess I never thought to ask."

"Or else the person who made up this life for you forgot to go back that far," she shot back.

Agitated and defensive now, his voice rose in anger. "Now look, just because my parents didn't tell as many stories as your mum obviously did, doesn't mean that your outlandish theory is true."

Rose was about to fire back a retort but stopped, brain finally processing what he had just said. "What about my dad?"

"What?"

"You said that my mum obviously told me stories. Why didn't you say anything about my dad?"

"I…" He stopped, confused. "I don't know. It's nothing, though. Doesn't mean anything—"

"But it _does_," she said, stepping towards him in her excitement. "My dad died when I was a baby. It was just me and my mum. You knew to say that because you remembered!"

He just looked at her, stunned, and she decided to try again, striking while he was still unsteady. "You said you were a teacher in Cardiff. Describe some of your students."

He seemed uncomfortable now, with her pressing more and more. "I don't know. You get a new batch of students every year, and sometimes it can be hard to think of a single person…" He winced and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "God, Rose Tyler, you are giving me a headache."

But Rose wasn't going to back down now. "Come off it," she scoffed. You're asking me to believe that you can't describe even one of your students? How about the other teachers at the school? You worked with them every day." He was getting more and more agitated, she could tell, but she wouldn't let up. "What's wrong, _Jacob_," she said, emphasizing the name with disdain, "can't think of anything? You've got to be able to give me something. Tall? Short? Old? Young? Male? Female?" Her voice was getting louder with every word. "Come on! _Give me something_!"

His hand dropped from his face as he shouted back at her, eyes wild. "Stop it! I don't—"

And then suddenly he cried out in pain and grabbed his stomach, falling to his knees.

"Oh, God," Rose breathed. Her heart leapt into her throat as she rushed over to his side, kneeling and throwing an arm across his back, pulling him closer to her. He was hunched over, eyes clenched shut in pain. One arm was across his stomach, his other hand threaded through the metal grille of the control room floor so tight his knuckles were turning white. "Doctor…Jacob…what's wrong?" she pleaded, but he didn't answer, instead drawing shuddering breaths in through his gritted teeth.

And then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. His breathing returned to normal and his entire body relaxed, slumping against her as his muscles refused to work.

"Are you okay?" Rose whispered softly.

The man in her arms took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then nodded and looked up at her. "I…I think so. Yes."

Rose helped him straighten up until he was kneeling, mirroring her position, and looking her in the eye. "What _was_ that?"

"I honestly don't know," he said, as confused as she. "That's never happened to me before. And it's completely gone now—I feel perfectly fine."

Another thud echoed through the room, and their attention shifted to the door.

"They can't get in," Rose reassured him.

"That's all well and good," he said as they both got to their feet, "but it doesn't sound like they're going to be giving up anytime soon." He looked at her. "Do you have any idea why they chased us?"

"I'm pretty sure they were involved in your disappearance."

Exasperation. "That _wasn't_ me, for the last—"

Rose waved his protests away. "Yes, fine. The Doctor's disappearance. Whatever." She ran a hand over her face. As much as she wanted to get through to him, finishing her interrogation—or discussing the debilitating pain he had just experienced—would have to wait. They had bigger things to worry about. "What we need to focus on is the fact that they know we're in here, and that they're not going to leave until we come out."

His expression was hopeful. "There wouldn't happen to be another way out of here, by any chance?"

She shook her head ruefully. "Nope."

"You said this was a ship…couldn't you pilot us out of here?"

Another negative. "You never—sorry. The Doctor never taught me how to fly her." But then she froze. "Wait. Emergency Programme One."

She'd hated that the Doctor had forced her to leave Satellite Five without her consent, and because of that had angrily tried to change the subject whenever he brought up the programme after his regeneration. But he'd been persistent, begging her to let him teach her how to active it if he promised to never use it himself again. He'd just wanted to be sure she had a way home, no matter what happened to him.

Just in case…

A question brought her out of her reverie. "And what's that?"

"It's a programme the Doctor came up with, that would take me home if he couldn't. To keep me safe." She swallowed heavily.

"The question is," she continued, looking her companion straight in the eye, "are you willing to come with me?"

The Doctor—Jacob—God, she wasn't sure how to think of him anymore—quirked an eyebrow at her. "Do I really have any choice?" He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck again. "I must be going insane. Completely mad. You ambush me in the street, mistake me for someone else, get me chased by thugs and trapped in an impossible ship, and now you're going to fly me off into parts unknown. This is by its very definition, a nightmare." He lifted his chin, and she could see the sparkle in his eyes, the wide grin slowly beginning to form. "And yet I'm having the time of my life. Is it always like this?"

Rose grinned back at him, hope springing up again in her heart at the familiar expression. "On the good days."

She turned her attention back to the console. "The Doctor made it easy for me to activate, in case I needed to get home in a hurry." Her fingers skated over the controls. "All I have to do is turn this dial…" She worked as she spoke. "Flip these switches…" Lights began to flash. "And then press this button," she finished, looking up as her hand hovered over the control in question. "You better hang on to something—it can get bumpy sometimes," she told the man wearing the Doctor's face. He nodded and grabbed the railing behind him.

And with that, Rose pressed the button and braced herself as well. Her precautions were unnecessary, however; the TARDIS had apparently decided to give them an uneventful flight. She was about to speak again when a hauntingly familiar voice echoed through the room, causing her to freeze in horror.

"This is Emergency Program One."

Of course. After everything he'd done, after all the trouble he'd gone through, resetting the programme, pleading with her to change her mind, teaching her how to activate it—the Doctor hadn't erased the hologram.

Of _course_.

"Rose, now listen; this is important. If this message is activated…"

So she turned and watched, stiffly, as her first Doctor said good-bye to her all over again, wincing as the words hit her. She stayed still even after it ended, and the room stayed silent for a moment before Jacob spoke softly. "Who was that?"

She wrenched her gaze back to him. "The Doctor."

He frowned, brow furrowing. "I don't understand. How could you confuse me with him if that's what he looks like?"

Rose closed her eyes for a moment, exhaustion pulling at her. Now she was the one getting a headache. "The Doctor is a Time Lord, and they have something called regeneration—a way of cheating death, he called it. If he's dying, every cell in his body changes. Same man, but with a different face. When I started traveling with the Doctor, he looked like that." She jerked her head to the side, indicating where the hologram had stood. Jacob was listening to her in fascination. "Now he looks like you."

His eyes widened as he took it all in. She didn't have to say it explicitly for him to know what she meant. The dangerous life she and this Doctor led suddenly didn't seem as exciting as it had moments before, and he sobered. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard for you."

She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, hearing those words in that voice come from that face. "It was. But I got over it. Had to. Not like he could change back." She pinched the bridge of her nose. She had to find a way to get the Doctor back. Maybe seeing her mum's flat would make him remember.

"Well!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together, trying to dissipate the tension and sadness in the room. "Standing around here's not going to do us any good. Why don't we get out and see the sights? We're in my London now."

He followed her lead, eyes brightening. "We're still in London?" he asked, not noticing her use of the possessive.

Rose grinned. "In a way." She nodded towards the door. "Why don't you go and see?"

He smiled and bounded over to the door, opening it quickly. But he froze in the doorway, staring out at the London she was familiar with, cars and buildings that were quaint and old-fashioned compared to 43rd century technology.

She made her way to his side, tongue planted firmly in her cheek as she looked up at his expression of disbelief. He opened his mouth, but it took him a few tries before he could speak. "Doesn't look like London," he said, weakly.

"Well, that could be because this is the London I'm from—in the year 2007."

He looked down at her, dumbfounded.

She grinned. "Did I mention that it also travels in time?"

"Bloody hell!"

For the first time in a month, Rose laughed.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Oh, I should _soooo_ be working on homework right now. Well, my grades may not be happy, but hopefully you guys will be, after reading the next chapter of this story! Sorry it's taken so long!

**Feedback:** Is love. Please review!

* * *

Jacob gawked in amazement as he and Rose walked down the street. It looked nothing like the London he was used to—and yet, it did. He could see the ghost of what the city would become in the buildings in front of him; he could even smell the river from where they stood. 

It couldn't be possible. And yet here he was, over two thousand years into the past. He was in a past London, with no obvious way of getting back, with a woman—a girl, really—with a fantastic story who had practically kidnapped him off the streets. And yet…he was having the time of his life. He'd left his job and come to London because he'd become dissatisfied with his normal, boring life, desperately wanting a change. And, well, this certainly fit the bill, didn't it?

He just wished he had an explanation for any of the amazing occurrences of the past few hours. He couldn't explain why Rose's friend, this Doctor bloke, looked exactly like him. He couldn't explain why those men had chased them. He couldn't explain how that ship—the TARDIS, Rose had called it—worked. He couldn't even explain the debilitating pain he'd been hit with in the middle of Rose's questioning. It was discomfiting—even as he'd been telling her that it had never happened to him before, he'd had the vague feeling that it was remembered pain, from some previous experience. But that was absurd—if he'd felt that unimaginable amount of pain before, he'd surely remember it, wouldn't he?

Jacob was brought out of his musings by a hand on his arm. "This is it," Rose said, nodding to the building in front of them. "If we're lucky, Mum won't be home."

He followed her up the stairs and into the flat, still taking in his surroundings. "Mum?" Rose called tentatively. "You here? The Doctor and I are going to be here for a while, just wanted to let you know…"

Rose's voice faded into the background as Jacob looked around the flat. It was small, but cozy, and lived-in, showing plenty of the character of the woman who lived there. It was in stark contrast to his own flat. He may have moved in only recently, but that was still no excuse for how bare it was. He really should decorate it more…

His gaze glanced over a mirror, and he froze. For instead of his reflection, the man from the hologram—the previous Doctor—was looking back at him, flicking his ears in contemplation. What in the hell? He stared at the mirror, transfixed.

"Doctor!"

It was Rose, sounding as if she'd been trying to get his attention for quite a while. He blinked, and the image disappeared, replaced by his reflection. He turned and saw an older woman standing beside Rose, bottle blond and clad in a bright tracksuit. The family resemblance was obvious. Apparently, they hadn't been as lucky as Rose had hoped. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Always off in his own world, that one is," Rose's mum muttered, but Rose ignored her grumbling.

"I was just telling Mum that we weren't going to be able to visit with her much this time, what with all the repairs you need to make to the TARDIS. We're going to be busy for the next few days." Her eyes pleaded with him—_just go along with it, please_.

"She's right, Jackie," he said. "Just like a house, everything seems to go bad at once. Got hours and hours of tinkering ahead of us." He looked down, startled, as Rose grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the flat.

"We better get started, then," she said, before her mum could say another word. "Bye, Mum!"

Jacob waved at the woman with his free hand as he was pulled out the door. "Bye!"

"Don't know how you two stay in the air, as many repairs as that thing needs!" was thrown at them through the closing door, and Jacob felt an irrational stab of irritation. He may have only been in the thing once, but it seemed like an amazing ship. It wasn't like it could help that it needed so much work! He tamped the strange feeling down and looked at the girl beside him. "Was that good enough?"

"Yeah," Rose said as they went down the stairs. "I'm sorry I put you on the spot, but Mum doesn't like me traveling with the Doctor as it is. If she knew something had gone wrong…I don't want her to worry more than she already does. And if we stay in the flat she'll realize that you don't remember being the Doctor—wait." She stopped and turned to him. "I never told you my mum's name was Jackie. Did you remember?"

There was such hope in her eyes that he almost felt sorry for telling her the truth. "No. Saw it on the label of one of the magazines on the table and assumed that must be your mum. Sorry."

The light went out of her eyes as she sighed. "Well, I guess that was too much to hope for. Anything else, though? Anything look familiar, any strange flashes?"

He thought about the image in the mirror. But it didn't make any sense. He knew who he was—Jacob Bennett. Always had been, always would be.

"No," he lied. Best not to get her hopes up.

* * *

Rose took him on a tour of the TARDIS, hoping that something would trigger his memory, but the constant walking only served to wear her out. After she yawned for the third time in less than five minutes, Jacob stopped and turned to her. "You're exhausted, Rose. You said we were safe here—surely all this can wait until we've had a good night's sleep." 

"Yeah, I guess," Rose replied, trying to stifle another yawn. "You must be tired too—it was early evening when we left your London, and it's been hours since then."

Jacob shrugged. "I don't really need much sleep. It's nice, though," he said, smiling at her. "Everyone else complains about sleep deprivation, and I feel like I'm getting a lie in every morning. But I could probably use some rest after the day we've had." He looked around the hallway. "Any chance there's an extra bedroom in this ship, after all the libraries and theatre rooms and swimming pools you've shown me?"

Rose decided not to mention how the Doctor never needed sleep either. "Oh, of course. Loads." She led him through the corridors until they came to the hallway that her and the Doctor's bedrooms were in. She chose a random door and turned the knob. "How about this…" Her voice trailed off as she took in the room. "…one," she said softly.

In front of her was not the empty room she'd expected. She recognized this room, from countless late-night chats and discussions. It was the Doctor's room. And not where it always was—the TARDIS had moved it to make sure Rose picked it. _Thanks girl_, she thought silently to the ship, glad that she wasn't alone.

"Everything okay?" Jacob asked.

Rose cleared her throat. "Yeah," she said, turning to the man behind her. "This look okay?" Off his nod, she continued. "There should be pajamas and toiletries in here. Just let me know if you need anything else."

"Sure," he said, smiling. "See you tomorrow." And with that he went into the room and closed the door.

Rose wearily made her way to her own bedroom. She didn't want to let Jacob out of her sight, but it wasn't like she could stay in his room and watch him sleep, was it? He thought her crazy enough as it was. And there was the fact that it was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open as she plodded through her nighttime rituals. She hadn't been getting much sleep for the past month, spending all her time worrying and searching for the Doctor, and now she was on the back end of an adrenaline high. Jacob had been right—after the day they'd had, they could use some rest. She slipped into bed and fell asleep soon after.

* * *

She woke up some hours later, sitting up and confusedly looking around her darkened room. From the exhaustion still weighing on her body, she could tell she'd only been asleep a few hours. So what had woken her up? 

A terrified cry made its way to her ears, and her eyes widened. Jacob.

She jumped out of bed and ran to the door, wrenching it open. On the other side she found not the corridor but the Doctor's bedroom, and she sent a wave of appreciation to the TARDIS as she raced over to the thrashing figure in the bed. "Jacob!" she cried, grabbing his shoulders and trying to hold him still.

At her touch he shot up, eyes open but unfocused for the moment as he panted, consciousness turned inward.

"It's okay, Doc—Jacob," she said, correcting herself. "It was just a nightmare. It's okay."

* * *

"It's okay, Jacob. You're safe. Nothing's going to happen to you." 

The soft voice soothed the tension out of his limbs as awareness slowly came back to him. He looked around the unfamiliar room, confused, before turning and noticing the woman beside him. "Rose?"

"Hey," she said, smiling. "You okay?"

He nodded, the events of the past day finally coming back to him. Rose. Mistaken identity. Running. The TARDIS. Traveling to the past. The impossible suddenly becoming possible. "Yeah. Just…just a nightmare."

"Must have been some nightmare, to make you yell like that. Want to talk about it?"

His nightmare had made absolutely no sense, full of black holes and werewolves and people with no faces and metal men and horrible creatures that killed—no, _exterminated_—people, the very sight of which filled his head with fire and screams and then nothing, an emptiness that went on forever, a hole where something should have been. The creatures had terrified him. But what scared him almost as much was the vague, troubling feeling that if he described any of this to Rose, she'd be able to put a name to every monster.

He shook his head. "No…can't remember much of it now anyway. But I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep. Guess I won't be getting a lie in this time." He smiled half-heartedly at her.

"That's fine," she assured him. "There's plenty we can do until morning."

"No, Rose," he protested, noting the dark circles under her eyes. "You're obviously still exhausted—don't stay up on my account. Go back to sleep. I'll just go to the library and read for a few hours." He raised his hands in silent entreaty. "I promise I won't wander off and get lost."

Rose burst out laughing at his last statement, but she waved him off when he frowned at her. "S'nothing. Don't worry." She looked up at him. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes."

And he was. After Rose went back to her room he showered and changed back into his jeans and t-shirt—borrowing pajamas had been strange enough, he wasn't going to wear another man's clothes—and made his way to the library Rose had shown him. Like a kid in a candy store he browsed through the towering stacks, fingers skimming over leather spines. Even the headache beginning to form behind his eyes couldn't dampen his happiness. He chose books at random and scanned through them until the rumbling in his stomach made his hunger known. Time for breakfast.

He gave himself a mental pat on the back when he managed to find the kitchen with a minimum of wandering. Bread was easy to find, and after putting it in the appliance that most resembled a toaster he rummaged through the fridge for butter and jam. He leaned back against the counter, absent-mindedly twisting the jam lid on and off the jar as he waited for the bread to finish. Without thinking he dipped a finger into the jam and stuck it into his mouth, licking the sweetness off the digit. The toast popping out of the toaster snapped him out of his fugue, and he pulled his finger out of his mouth and looked at it in disgust and confusion. "What the hell?"

Approaching footsteps interrupted his thoughts, and he quickly screwed the top back on the jar and wiped his hand on a nearby towel. Grabbing one of the pieces of toast, he put it on a plate and turned to the door, where Rose had just appeared.

"Breakfast?"

* * *

After their meal Rose had suggested giving him another tour of the TARDIS, but he'd declined, asking if they could tour London instead. His headache was still throbbing behind his temples, and he just wanted to get out of the enclosed space, no matter how big the ship was. She'd looked troubled, and brought up the men who had chased them, but when he reminded her that they wouldn't be a problem for another two thousand years, she'd had no choice but to agree. 

The instant they left the ship the vise around his head eased, and he sighed in relief.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"I've had a headache all morning, and it's finally going away." He smiled at her. "Guess I just needed some fresh air." She bit her lip, contemplating his statement, but said nothing.

They sneaked away from the Estate, making sure that Jackie wouldn't notice that they weren't really fixing the TARDIS, and made their way through the streets of London. Downing Street and Big Ben he recognized, but the Millennium Wheel fascinated him, having been replaced with a newer, more high-tech model long before the 43rd century. They explored parks and shops before buying chips—extra vinegar and salt for Jacob, just the way the Doctor liked them—and made their way to the river. "It's actually cleaner in my time than it is here," Jacob commented. "Government started a preservation campaign in the year 4000. Took them over one hundred years to finish, but now you can look down and see the bottom, it's so clear."

They spent the next few minutes eating their chips in silence. Rose reached the bottom of her cone and wadded the paper into a ball before turning to the man beside her. "Why did you move to London, Jacob? You told me you taught in Cardiff."

He looked out over the water. "I loved teaching, but I just…got tired of it after a while. I can't really explain it—one day I woke up and decided I wanted to do something different. Write the next great novel, discover a cure for the common cold—_something_." He shrugged and turned to her, giving her a wry smile. "Early mid-life crisis, I guess."

"How convenient," Rose said bitterly. "New guy in town, so it's okay that no one knows you, and you're not teaching anymore, so no one's going to check your references."

Jacob grimaced. "Oh, please, don't start that again. We were having such a good time."

"I can't help it!" Rose cried. She rubbed a hand wearily over her face. "I'm sorry. I know you don't think it's possible, but I do. I really do, and…" She shrugged helplessly.

"How about this—when we get back to the TARDIS you can question me all you want, try everything to convince me. But nothing right now," he pleaded. "Please, Rose, just give me today."

"Okay."

* * *

They ended up watching a movie, where Jacob commented on the antiquated special effects, and then ate dinner at a pub far enough away from the Powell Estate so they wouldn't run into anyone Rose knew. It was dark by the time they left, and they walked side-by-side on the pavement, enjoying the cool night air after the stuffy pub. They were close enough that their hands bumped together as they swung by their sides, and the second time it happened Jacob tangled his fingers with hers. 

Rose froze, jerking Jacob to a stop. "What's wrong, Rose?" he asked.

Wide eyed, Rose raised their joined hands. "Why'd you do that?" she whispered fiercely.

Jacob stared at their hands. "I…I don't know. I didn't even realize I did it. Sorry—didn't mean to startle you." He started to let go of her hand, but she just clasped his even tighter. "No!" she cried. She took a deep breath and continued, eyes shining a little. "It's okay. It doesn't bother me. You don't have to let go."

They stared at each other for a long moment. "Okay, then," Jacob said softly, and they continued on their way.

* * *

He hadn't even realized that he'd taken Rose's hand, but now that she'd brought it to his attention, it was all Jacob _could_ notice. Her warm palm against his cooler one, her soft skin under his fingertips. His nerve endings were on fire, and it took all his willpower not to run his thumb in circles over her knuckles. He couldn't stop looking at her either. She was beautiful, despite her dark roots and too much eye makeup. No, not despite—_because_ of them, because those things made her real. 

He wanted her. He couldn't explain it, because it made absolutely no sense. He'd known this girl less than twenty-four hours, and yet it felt like he'd known her all his life—been waiting for her all his life. He was holding her hand, and he never wanted to let go.

They'd just made it back to the TARDIS when he spoke.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"What would you say if I asked if I could kiss you?"

Rose stared at him, shocked. "I…what?"

"Wrong question, maybe. How about this—if I _did_ kiss you, would you stop me?"

She couldn't take her eyes off him. "No," she whispered, without thinking.

"Good." And then her back was against the TARDIS, and he was kissing her.

* * *


End file.
